Table of contents for 693 in Computeractive

Apple has added a physical button to its new range of iPhones that opens the camera and takes a photo or records videos. Called the Camera Control button, it’s positioned on the right of the iPhone and also lets you zoom (pictured), lock the focus and adjust exposure and depth of field. Applying different levels of pressure opens different options (see www.snipca.com/52042). You can also use it to swipe through a range of photo filters without having to tap the screen. It’s similar to double-pressing the power button on Android phones to open the camera, but with many more features. It means you don’t have to touch the screen to control the photo or video, making it easier to see what you’re actually photographing or recording. From next year, Camera…

Since 2015, it’s been easy to switch broadband providers. Ofcom’s rules meant you only had to contact the company you’re switching to, and it then got in touch with the company you’re leaving to organise the move. However, this worked only if the two providers used the same cable infrastructure to supply the internet. This works fine for switching from BT to Sky or from TalkTalk to Zen Internet because they all use Openreach’s network. But it didn’t cover switching between networks, such as from Openreach to Virgin Media, or from either to smaller, regional networks like CityFibre. You still had to contact both companies yourself and try to coordinate the perfect time to switch to minimise the length of time without a connection. “Tell your new provider you want…

Mini PCs continue to flood the market and this Cubi model from Taiwanese manufacturer MSI is available in several versions from Scan at www.snipca.com/51924. These include barebones models without RAM and storage, in case you want to kit out your own with any spare components you may already have. However, here we’re reviewing the top-of-the-range Core 7 150U model with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. “It handles the basic jobs well, and can be bought from a reputable UK seller” The Core 7 150U is a new Intel chip launched in January. Despite sounding like it should be in the same processor family as the Intel Core i7, it has fewer cores, making it slower to run advanced software and perform simultaneous Windows tasks. It’s more comparable to…

What you need: MP3 player; Disc drive Time required: Two hours Streaming music is hugely popular these days, but many people still prefer the superior audio quality offered by MP3s. If you don’t want to store MP3s on your phone, there are plenty of affordable players you can consider instead. One of the best is the MP3 Music Player (pictured) from UK firm Majority, which we gave a Recommended award to in Issue 686 (page 28). It has 16GB of memory – enough to store thousands of tracks – and it costs £32 on Amazon (www.snipca.com/51791). We think it’s the ideal device to use for an in-car music system. You could leave it in your vehicle permanently so you can access your entire music collection wherever you happen to be.…

Back in the 1980s, video-cassette recorders (VCRs) revolutionised the way we watched TV, allowing us to tape shows to play later rather than having to catch them when they were broadcast. VHS and Betamax were then superseded by recordable DVDs and personal video recorders (PVRs). Sadly, since our viewing habits moved to streaming, our options for recording TV programmes are gradually disappearing. Here, we explain what’s changed and what you can do to carry on recording. What’s happened to TV recordings? As we reported in Issue 692 (page 6), BT/EE customers can no longer record BBC shows on their TV boxes via the internet. When you record a programme to your EE TV (formerly BT TV) Pro Box using Internet Mode, pressing play will now take you to the iPlayer…

Is isopropanol better than ethanol at cleaning devices? Q In Issue 687’s How To (page 35) you recommend using isopropanol for cleaning dirty devices. Why is this better than ethanol which is more widely available as methylated spirits? I find this works well. Also, why dilute it? If dilution is important, why not buy 70-per-cent isopropanol rather that 99 per cent? My understanding is that 70 per cent is used as a disinfectant and 99 per cent for cleaning. Mark Howarth A Ethanol and isopropanol are both alcohols and have very similar disinfectant properties, but we would recommend isopropanol for cleaning electronic devices, as it evaporates more rapidly and doesn’t leave any oil traces behind. This makes it more suitable for use with sensitive components. As for diluting it –…

Back in the days when my work computer was a Mac, I once forwarded a PC-using colleague a mysterious email attachment that my Apple machine couldn’t open. Happy to help, he duly double-clicked the file only to find his screen taken over by an obscene message in huge, flashing letters. Both of us were horrified, especially as most of the office could see his monitor, and the offensive screensaver could only be removed by resetting Windows. Understandably, he didn’t speak to me for weeks and though I placed the blame squarely on the prankster who’d sent me the wretched thing, I also learned a valuable lesson: never open an email attachment unless you know exactly what it contains. “One malicious macro can wreak havoc far worse than a rude message”…

WATCH REWIND TV ON FREEVIEW Nostalgia TV channel Rewind has launched on Freeview, letting you watch shows from the 1960s to the 90s. Available on channel 95, it includes The Prisoner, Whicker’s World, Drop the Dead Donkey (pictured), Jason King, Dick Turpin and The Tony Hancock Show. It launched on Sky Q (channel 190) in May. Watch a trailer at www.snipca.com/52033. RAKUTEN TV APP COMES TO VIRGIN Virgin Media customers with a Stream or TV 360 box can now watch the Rakuten app on their TVs, providing access to over 150 free live channels (with adverts) and 8,000 on-demand shows and films. There’s also a store where you can buy new films. It’s available in the app section of the Stream or TV 360 menu. CHROMEBOOKS GET ‘SNAPPED’ WINDOWS Google…

The Government wants phone manufacturers to make it easier for victims to disable their stolen devices, following a sharp rise in thefts. There were an estimated 78,000 ‘snatch thefts’ in the 12 months to March 2024, up from 31,000. These are defined as items like phones, bags and wallets being taken without the thief using force or the victim being threatened. Less than one per cent of police investigations resulted in a person being charged, while almost 82 per cent were closed without officers finding a suspect. Ministers said a growing demand for second-hand phones in the UK and abroad has driven the rise in thefts. Unless a stolen phone is permanently disabled, it can be used by a new owner if sold to them. The Home Office plans to…

Formed in 1661 by Charles II, the Household Cavalry comprises the two most senior regiments of the British Army: the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Historically, they were the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) and the 1st (Royal) Dragoons. Mounted on horseback in their colourful uniforms, they guard the King on ceremonial occasions and serve in reconnaissance and peacekeeping roles around the world. Browse records at the National Archives You’ll find service records for non-commissioned officers and other ranks discharged between 1799-1920, who served in the Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards and the Household Battalion (formed in 1916 from the reserves of the Household Cavalry), in series WO 400 at the National Archives. Subscribers can download them without any extra cost,…

UK-based PC builder PCSpecialist is best known for its desktop PCs, but it also makes laptops. The 14 Lafité AI AMD is one of its latest examples and, as with most machines from the company, you can customise the components to create the precise build you want. The basic specification includes the case, screen and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, and you can’t change those elements. The most affordable model throws in 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, and costs £693. This is the laptop you’ll buy if you visit our link above and click the green Proceed button at the top right. “A basic laptop that offers upgrade choices and a stunning screen, but knows its limits” We wanted to test a slightly better specification, however, so we…

The HP 325 FHD sits at the cheapest end of HP’s webcam range. It’s intended to provide basic video functionality to desktop PCs, but may also appeal to anyone who owns a laptop with a poor-quality or broken webcam. It has a pleasing rounded design, a permanently connected USB cable and a clip that will attach to any laptop or monitor of your choice. It also comes with a tripod connection if you’d like to to use it for streaming an event, like a family birthday party. A privacy shutter can be mounted on to the front to ensure you’re not being watched when you’re not using it. The 1080p image quality is pretty good as long as you make sure your face is well lit. In natural daylight that…

Find out which other products we liked. Buy our 2023 Back Issue CD: £18 from www.snipca.com/48860 LAPTOP Dell Inspiron 14 Plus £699 from www.snipca.com/51831 Tested Issue 683 This laptop has the same processor (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H) as our previous favourite (Acer Swift Go 4), but manages to squeeze more speed out of it. It also comes with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and a 14in 2240x1400-pixel screen. Excellent value overall. ALTERNATIVE Acer Swift Go 14 Still a fast and powerful laptop, with a great 14in screen. £1099 from www.snipca.com/49733 ANDROID TABLET Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 £799 from www.snipca.com/50039 Tested Issue 667 With a much brighter screen than our previous favourite – the Galaxy Tab S8 – this is perfect for watching TV. It also has a faster processor, so…

What you need: Arc Time required: 20 minutes The Arc Windows browser was released in April. It’s based on the Chromium code and works with Chrome extensions. What sets Arc apart from other browsers is that it recognises that we often use related web pages simultaneously. To address this, its developers have come up with theclever idea of ‘spaces’, which you can use to group collections of web pages – within tabs – that relate to a particular task, subject area, project and more. Here, we explain how to use Arc’s ‘spaces’ feature to group your tabs, see them in split-screen and organise them into folders. STEP 1 First, download Arc from www.arc.net. You need a free Arc account to get set up. To get one, double-click the ‘ArcInstaller.exe’ file in…

One of the best tools in WhatsApp is Communities, letting you bring together related groups under a single umbrella. For example, you could run several groups based in towns or cities, but also set up a larger ‘county’ community to bring these groups together. You can then send messages to all these groups and – using a new option – announce events coming up. You can add up to 100 groups per community, with a maximum of 2,000 members allowed. Set up a community First, we’ll explain how to set up a community. Tap the Communities icon at the bottom of the main WhatsApp page. Next, click ‘New community’ at the top followed by ‘Get started’ at the bottom. Now give your community a name (we're calling ours ‘Ultimate Meet-Up’)…

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More adults get their news from websites than TV for the first time, according to new Ofcom research. Its annual study of how people consume news shows that 71 per cent do so online, up from 68 per cent in 2023 (www.snipca.com/52017). The figure for TV fell from 75 to 70 per cent in the same period. Ofcom said the biggest driving factor is more people using social media for news. More than half of UK adults (52 per cent) now use Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to access news – up from 47 per cent in 2023. However, there remain stark differences across age groups. Half of people aged 55-plus find news online, up from 45 per cent in 2018. Most of these visit news websites, while 82 per cent…

Two companies that tricked pensioners into paying to fix non-existent security problems on their computers have been shut down. Scammers from DT Care Ltd and Amolin Solution Limited phoned victims pretending to be from major tech companies like Microsoft, and persuaded them to provide remote access to their machines. They carried out tasks that made it look like they were fixing the problems, then charged victims – most of whom were in their 70s and 80s – up to £400. They even sent unwanted parcels to the victims to suggest they had actually carried out a genuine service. In one example, DT Care sent two paperback novels, a mousepad and a wind chime, none of which the victim ordered. Both firms were registered in the UK – DT Care Ltd…

VPNs need to fix their email problems I totally agree with the sentiment of Issue 692’s Cover Feature (‘Why you must use a VPN’, pictured right). However, VPNs need to be better constructed than they are at present. I’ve had intermittent email problems both on my PCs and my iPad whereby using a VPN crashes the email sent. My messages are either put in the Outbox, or I get warnings telling me my email address is incorrect. And on some occasions it tells me my email password is not correct. These problems disappear if I turn off the VPN. This is frustrating – any VPN ought to be able to cope with either Outlook or Apple Mail. When I spoke to BT they said they were receiving more calls about…

If you live in a smaller property you may not have the luxury of having your main PC and TV in separate rooms. Or perhaps your home office doubles as your private TV room, away from the rest of the household. If so, the Samsung Smart Monitor M8 may just be for you. It’s designed to work as a monitor and a TV, offering the sort of screen quality that makes it great for work during the day and for watching TV and films once you’ve knocked off. It’s expensive compared with most other monitors and TV sets of this size, but if it saves you having to buy two separate pieces of kit then it may just be worth it. “The screen is good enough both for watching TV…

As you’ll have seen from our recent reviews, there’s a wide range of reasonably priced TVs around with surprisingly high picture quality. However, this prioritisation of screen often means audio quality is an afterthought. Even more expensive sets can’t recreate the immersive sound experience you might find in a cinema. The Ultimea Poseidon D50 is an affordable speaker system that can bring a much-needed sound boost to practically any TV. The soundbar component sits below your TV and produces a front-facing sound. There’s also a subwoofer to add rumbling bass, and two smaller speakers designed to sit behind you and to each side. Setup is simple: the soundbar connects to your TV via an HDMI cable. The woofer and speakers connect to the soundbar wirelessly, though they need to be…

What is it? The new version of the wireless communication technology, announced in early September by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), whose mission is to create a “world without wires” (www.snipca.com/52000). When will it be available? Probably next year. The official release means manufacturers can now build it into their devices, but it’ll take time for these to appear on the shelves. And to use Bluetooth 6.0, both the device sending the signal and the device receiving it need to be compatible with the new technology – for example, the laptop playing music and the earbuds you’re listening to. It has plenty of exciting new features, not that you’d know it from their names. Take ‘Channel sounding’, for example. What does that do then? It’s a new technique that…

High-tech, super-secure ‘smart’ locks have been the preserve of spy thrillers for years, but now they’re available in reality – and at prices that will allow you to install one on your own front door. These wireless digital devices offer keyless methods of gaining access to your home, such as a key code, NFC fob, fingerprint reader or a swipe of your smartphone screen. It makes unlocking your door much easier for you, while also making it harder for intruders to break in. You can also lock or unlock your front door remotely, and give people access while you’re out – such as trusted tradespeople or family members. Wireless devices can be hacked, of course, but the best smart locks are protected by bank-grade encryption and are constantly kept up…

PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT How do I monitor my network traffic? Q My home network sometimes slows to a crawl for no apparent reason, no matter what I’m doing – be it moving files around or downloading from or uploading to the internet. I’d like to investigate why this is happening by monitoring network traffic – internal and external – and by also monitoring which programs and apps are using bandwidth (as I suppose something might be causing a bottleneck). Is there an easy solution to doing this or would it require a multi-faceted approach? Alan Jeans A That depends on how technically minded you are, and how thorough you want to be. With enough know-how and patience you could theoretically identify and follow every last bit that passes in,…